The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-11


biting pain of the elm wood rods, from the
sharp sword of the headsman, he goes into
the most brilliant assemblage of heaven, a
king among kings, multitudes of the saint
hood rushing out and stretching forth hands
of welcome; for do really think that as ON
the right hand of God is Christ, SO ON the
right hand of Christ is Paul, the second
great in heaven.
He changed kings likewise Before the
hour of death, and up to the last moment,
he was under Nero, the thick -necked, the
cruel-eyed, the filthy-lipped- sculptured
features of that man bringing down to us
to this very day the horrible possibilities of
his nature-Seated as he was amidst pic
tured marbles Of Egypt, under roof
adorned with mother-of-pearl, in a dining
room which, by machinery, was kept whirl-
ing day and night with most bewitching
magnificence his horses standing in stalls
palace lighted at night by its victims, who
had been daubed with tar and pitch and
then set ON fire to illumine the darkness.
That was PaulS King. But the next mo-
ment he goes into the realm of Him whose
reign is love, and whose courts are paved
with love, and whose throne is set on pillars
of love, and whose sceptfe 10 adorned with
jewels of love, and whose palace is lighted
with love, and whose lifetime is an eternity
on this side the pillar of martyrdom to gain
so much on the other side, do you wonder at
the cheerful valedictory of the text, 1.-The
time of my departure is at hands"
Now, why cannot all the old people of this
congregation have the same holy glee as
that aged man had' Charles l., when he
was combing his head, found a gray
hair, and he sent it to the Queen as
great joke; but old age is really
no joke at ali. For the last forty years you
have been dreading that which ought to
most fear the struggle at the moment the
soul and body party. But millions have en-
dured that moment, and why not we as
well! They got through with it, and so can
we. Besides this, all medical mon agree in
saying that there is probably no struggle at
all at the last moment-not SO much pain as
the prick of a pin, the seeming signs of dis
tress being altogether involuntary But you
say: ut is the uncertainty of the future
Now, child of God, do not play the infidel.
After God has filed the Bible till it can hold
no more with stories of the good things
ahead, better not talk about uncertainties
But you say: 81 cannot bear to think of
parting from friends here.n If you are old
you have more friends in heaven than here
Just take the census. Take
some large sheets of paper and begin to
record the names of those who have emi-
grated to the other shore; the companions
of your school days, your early business as
sociates, the friends of midi and those
who more recently went away. Can it be
that they have been gone so long you do not
care any more about them, and you do not
want their society! Oh, no! There have
been days when you have felt that you
could not endure it another moment away
from their blessed companionship. They
have gone. You say you would
not like to bring them back to
this world of trouble, even if you had the
power. 1t would not do to trust you. God
would not give you resurrection power
Before tomorrow morning you would be
rattling at the gates of the cemetery, cry
ing to the departed: "Come back to the
cradle where you slept come back to the
hall where you used to play! come back to
the table where you used to sit" and there
would be a great burglary in heaven. No.
no! God will not trust you with resurrec-
tiOn power; but he compromises the matter
and says: "You cannot bring them where
you are, but you can go where they are"
They are more lovely now than ever. Were
they beautiful here, they are more beautiful
there.
Beside that, it is more healthy there for
you than here, aged man; better climate
there than these hot summers and cold win
ters and late springs; better hearing, better
eye-sight; more tonic in the air; more per-
fume in the bloom; more sweetness in the
song. Do you not feel, aged man, some
times, as though you would like to get your
arm and foot free Do you not feel as
though you would like to throw away spec
tacles and canes and crutcheS Would you
not like to feel the spring and elasticity and
mirth of an eternal boyhood When the
point at which you start from this world is
old age, and the point to which you go is
eternal juvenescence, aged man, clap your
hands at the anticipation, and say, III per-
feet rapture of soul: 1.-The time of my de-
parture is at hand.n
| remark, again, all those ought to feel
this JOY of the text who have holy curioI-
ty to know what is beyond this earthly ter
minus And who has not any curiosity
about it, Paul, | suppose, had the most
satisfactory view Of heaven, and nc says:
1T doth not yet appear what we shall he"
1t is like looking through IA broken tele-
scope "Now we see through a glass dark
ly." Can you tell me anything about that
heavenly place! You ask me a thousand
questions about it that can not answer.
ask you a thousand questions about it that
you can not answer. And do you wonder
that Paul was SO glad when martyrdom
gave him n chance to 20 over and make
discoveries in that blessed country!
/ hope some day, by the grace of God, TO
go over and see for myself but not now.
No well man, no prospered man, ] think,
wants TO 20 now. But the time will come,
! think, when shall go over. ! want TO
see what they do there, and / want to see
how they do it, Edo not want to be look
ing through the gates ajar forever want
them 10 swing wide open. There are ten
thousand things | want explained-about
you. about myself, about the government of
this world, about God, about everything.
We start in a plain path Of what we know,
and in a minute come up against a high
wall Of what we do not know | wonder
how il looks over there Somebody tells
me it is Ike a paved city-paved with gold
and another man tells me it is like fouu-
tain. and it is like tree, and il s like a tri-
umphal procession; and the next man ] meet
tells me it is all figurative. Ireally want to
know, after the body is resurrected, what
they wear and what they eat and have an
immeasurable curiosity 20 know what il is,
and how il is, and where it is. Columbus
rislxed his life TO find this continent and
shall we shudder 20 20 out on voyage of
discovery which shall reveal q vaster and
more brilliant country John Franklin
risked his life TO find a passage between
icebergs and shall wo dread 10 find u pas
sage 10 eternal summerl Men IN Switzer-
land travel up the heights of the Matterhorn
with alpenstock, and guides, and rockets,
aud ropes, and, getting half way up, stun
bio and fall down in a horrible massacre
They Just want TO say they have been ON the
tops OF those high peaks. And shall we fear
10 go out for tho ascent Of tho eternal hills